Exposure to Risk Factors and the Subjective Wellbeing of Adolescents: the Mediating Role of Time Perspective

This study examined the subjective wellbeing (SWB) and time perspectives (the psychological concepts of past, present, and future) of 460 Israeli adolescents aged 14 to 16, with high versus low exposure to socioeconomic, demographic, and familial risk factors. Participants completed questionnaire measures on time perspectives, life satisfaction, and positive and negative emotions. The results indicated that although adolescents at high risk reported less life satisfaction, no differences were found for positive emotions and negative emotion between the two groups. High risk adolescents scored significantly higher on past negative, present fatalistic, and present hedonistic time perspectives and their overall time perspective profiles were more imbalanced than their low risk peers. Structural equation modeling with bootstrap analysis confirmed that the hypothesized indirect link between risk status and poor SWB was mediated by an imbalanced time perspective profile. The findings suggest that the time perspective profile may shed light on why and how exposure to risk factors is associated with having a lower SWB in adolescence. Future studies and interventions should thus examine the ways in which a change in adolescents’ time perspective can improve their SWB.